Fraud in the medical service industry is a problem, both in the private and public sector. For instance, a plastic card is commonly used to verify the benefits associated with an individual for medical services. The patient arrives at the medical clinic or pharmacy with a plastic card bearing the insurance provider's name, the name of the person receiving the medical service and in some cases the co-payment requirement. However, a forger can duplicate an insurance card allowing an individual seeking medical service to associate themselves with a set of benefits that they may not be entitled to.
Additionally, inconvenience and inefficiency are other problems in the medical industry. A typical patient carries with them multiple cards for different benefits (medical, dental, vision, medicine, etc.) and yet more cards to make payments for the co-payments or remaining balances for the medical services.
Furthermore, when requesting service, the patient has little understanding of the ultimate financial responsibility from the transaction until much later. Usually, the medical service provider or the patient calls the medical insurer to discuss the coverage further adding to the inefficiency. In many instances, the billing for the medical service provided begins long after the medical services are provided to the patient. The billing is usually accomplished by a long back and forth discourse through mail between the medical service provider, the medical insurer and the patient that usually includes statements, reminders, insurance benefit explanations and appeals. This process of operating with non-verified and incomplete information leads to dissatisfaction and inefficiencies in the system.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems.